Posts Tagged 'Cannondale'

I’ve received word that we’ve got an ’09 Cannondale SuperSix Hi-Mod in stock right now. The size is 52cm. This bike would be best decked out in SRAM Red, but either Dura-Ace or Super Record 11 are also available.

It’s kind of a smart fork that does all of the adjustments to your fork electronically, so that you don’t have to worry about it. Pretty cool. Scott has already got a remote lockout button on their high-end MTB like the Genius as well as some of the high-end forks like the RockShox SID XX, it won’t take long for these to be integrated into MTB.

I am a bit surprised that they replaced all of the innards of the lefty suspension fork with only one electronic valve. That doesn’t seem prudent to me. Personally, I’d like to see a top of the line fork with electronic components, like sensors and accelerometers, to do what the Simon does.

Like this:

I found this great article by Kerry Roberts where he gives you information about where your bike was actually made. His list dates from 2008. Since then, all of Cannondale’s production has shifted to Asia. All Colnagos except the EPS are made in Taiwan. All Pinarellos are made in Taiwan. All Kuotas are made in Taiwan. All Orbeas are made in Taiwan. All Wiliers are made in Taiwan.

All TIME frames are made in France. Just as Giant is unusual in the fact that they make their own carbon frames, the same is true for TIME.

Why is this important? It’s important for pricing. Any frame made in the US and Europe can have a premium price attached to it. Frames that aren’t can’t breach a certain logical price limit. Obviously this isn’t true for every manufacturer, especially for some who don’t want you to find out that your bike was made in Asia, like the Prince by Pinarello.

Cannondale will move almost all of its bicycle production to Taiwan. That’s sad for the 200 workers that are going to lose their jobs, but there is no way that American manfacturers can compete with the ones oversees. The reason isn’t only the skills of the welders, but the cost of manufacturing. Skilled factory workers in America are well compensated. Who hasn’t heard about the stories of factory workers making $80,000 to $90,000 in the aeronautics business?

Then again, Canondale, just like Trek, is losing part of it’s identity to make more profits. Cannondale isn’t alone in this. Wilier and other manufacturers, like Kona, have outsourced their frames to Taiwan.

Like this:

The Scott Spark LTD boasts that it’s the lightest full suspension mountain bike available, but Cannondale released its Olympic mountain bike edition of the Scalpel which is actually 1.6 lbs lighter. The Scott Spark LTD does possess some cool technology. It weighs 20.6 lbs. The Cannondale Scalpel Olympic weighs 19lbs. The new Trek Fuel EX 9.9 now weighs in at 23.5 lbs. Taking a Cannondale Scalpel carbon fiber frame with a carbon fiber lefty and a carbon fiber seatpost and handlebars will most probably reduce easilty the weight of the Scalpel. The other thing that is pretty heavy on these bikes are the wheels. A pair of carbon fiber wheels will make a big difference. This is what they used to make that Cannondale/Vredestein so light, plus a few tweaks.